And just like that, we’re halfway through August! This month has been flying by, and school days are creeping up on me. But before we turn to all things apples, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice, let’s finish up the Maine summer series! This cookie is so pretty to look at without being overwhelmingly decorated, and it’s one that anyone can make with a few hours and a few colors. It’s a quintessential ‘Maine’ cookie: unfussy and lovely, just as it is. Let’s get our Maine on!
Maine is nicknamed The Pine Tree State, so it should be no surprise that when it was time to choose a theme for my state cookie that I went with a tree theme. There are all sorts of pine trees in Maine, but I chose a Spruce Pine because the needles are recognizable but easy to make with royal icing.
What You’ll Need for State of Maine Pine Tree Cookies
- Sugar cookies, baked and cooled (recipe at the bottom of this post, or here)
- State of Maine cookie cutter (available here on Amazon)
- Royal icing in white, dark green, light brown, and dark brown (recipe at the bottom of this post, or here)
- Gel food coloring (available here on Amazon)
- Counter top fan to speed drying time
Begin by cutting, baking, and allowing your state shapes to cool. While you wait, make one batch of royal icing. Put aside about one third of the batch when it is at piping consistency, and tint half of it dark green. I got the lovely dark color in this post by using mostly ‘leaf green’ and a drop or two of ‘teal’. For the other half of the piping icing, tint half of that half (I know, I know) light brown and the other half a darker brown. Leave the rest of the original batch white and thin it to a medium consistency. If you’re a beginner, follow this tutorial that splits cookie flooding into two steps. If you’re a bit more seasoned, you can combine outlining and flooding your cookies by mixing your icing to a medium consistency between piping and flooding. I find the sweet spot for medium consistency is icing that disappears in about 5 seconds when dripped back into the icing bowl.
Icing Coloring Tip: Gel food coloring will darken over time after it is mixed into the royal icing, so don’t go crazy trying to make a very deep green or brown before you decorate. I usually mix in enough that the icing is a shade or two lighter than a typical crayon color, and it darkens nicely during (and after) drying.
Transfer all your icings into decorating bags. Although it can take a little longer, I use a #2 tip to flood these cookies because I find it helps preserve some of the definition in the coastline, when using a #3 to #5 tip can end up smoothing out the edges a little too much. Completely flood the cookie with white icing and let them harden fully under a counter top fan (about 2 to 3 hours).
Now grab your dark brown icing bag and a #2 tip so that you can create your branch. Pipe a line diagonally across the cookie, starting at the bottom and moving upwards. At about the halfway point, split the line into two. While your branch lines should generally be straight, you do want a few bumps and dips along the way to create a more natural looking shape. I like to double back just a bit here and there to create some dimension along the way. Put your cookies back under the fan for another hour.
Next, pick up your green icing bag and a #1 tip. Pipe straight lines for pine needle bundles at random intervals on the cookie. Make about 5 needles per bundle for the first go-round, all starting from the same point on the branch and fanning outward. Once you’ve finished, allow a few minutes per cookie for the needles to begin to harden, and then go back over each bundle, adding several more needles over the top, making sure that some cross over the bottom layer of needles.
Finally, grab the light brown icing with a #2 tip. Pipe dots onto the branch at the base of each pine needle bundle. If your dots end up being pointed at the top -think like a Hershey Kiss- use a small silicone spatula (such as the one in my favorite decorating kit) to tap down the points about 15 seconds after you pipe them. And that’s it, you’re done!
So how did the State of Maine treat you? If you enjoyed this cookie theme, make sure to check out the rest in the Maine summer series by searching for “Maine” in the search box above or clicking the Maine tag at the top of the post. As always, make sure to visit the comments below if you have any comments or questions that I can help you with! Enjoy those last days of summer, and until next time, happy baking!
Foolproof Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In bowl, mix together 3 cups of the flour and baking power. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the extracts and the egg and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Dough will be crumbly.
- Press dough together with hands, and roll out on a well-floured surface. Cut shapes and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Refrigerate baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, remove when cookie edges are just barely golden. Allow several minutes to cool on sheet before moving cookies to a rack.
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder
- 4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar sifted
- 1/2 tsp Karo syrup (optional)
- 1/8 tsp clear flavored extract (optional)
Instructions
- Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and beat with mixer until frothy.
- Sift powdered sugar into the same bowl and mix to combine
- Add syrup and extract if desired
- Beat the icing for 4-5 minutes until it is glossy and holds a peak if the beater is turned upside down
Medium Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 5 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
Flooding Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 3 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
